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No. 11 Mississippi State vs. Nicholls State: How, where, and when to watch the Diamond Dawgs

Mississippi State beat writer Colin Dammsby: Colin Damms05/05/26Colintheshots95

Mississippi State is back at home this week for both midweek and SEC baseball action. The week begins this evening with a nonconference test against Nicholls State, a warm-up for another Top 10 series against Auburn this weekend.

The Bulldogs (36-12, 14-10 SEC) return to Dudy Noble Field in search of a reset after a frustrating series defeat at No. 4 Texas last weekend. A nine-run inning helped elevate the Longhorns in an 11-6 win, knocking out MSU starter Charlie Foster after just two full innings on the mound. The frustration boiled over with a called strike three on Ace Reese with the bases loaded in the 6th inning, which led to the ejection of head coach Brian O’Connor for disputing the call in the home plate umpire’s face.

“I just felt like that pitch was so egregious that I obviously needed to defend our team and our player,” O’Connor told SuperTalk radio host Brian Hadad on Monday. “Umpires have a really tough job. As it turned out, that umpire did a really high-quality job on Sunday, no matter what anybody thinks when they watch a broadcast… They receive scores after games. Sometimes it’s hard to see whether a pitch is in or out or not. It’s sometimes a situation that you need to defend your player, especially in that scenario, a pivotal time in the game.”

How to watch the Bulldogs

The game between the Bulldogs and Tigers will be available only via streaming on SEC Network+.

Where: Subscriptions to stream are available through ESPN+, but users with a TV package including SEC Network can also watch the game on the ESPN App by adding their TV provider information.

When: First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.

Weather Forecast: The weather is projected to be cloudy with temperatures in the high 70s by first pitch, low 70s by the end of the evening. Per AccuWeather.

Nicholls State

The Bulldogs will face off against a Nicholls State team sitting just above .500 at 25-22, with a 15-12 record in Southland Conference play.

The Colonels have lost all four matchups against SEC teams this season, which included a trip to Knoxville for a three-game series at Tennessee and a midweek loss at LSU. They did record a midweek upset against Southern Miss earlier in the season, but lost the return game against the Golden Eagles.

The Colonels are led at the plate by regular starters Nico Rijo-Berger, who leads the team with a .340 batting average, Greyson Shafer and Caston Thompson. Shafer holds a team-high 48 RBI with 13 extra base hits while Thompson leads the team with 12 home runs and 37 runs scored.

It’s the final nonconference test of the regular season for MSU. A weekend series against No. 6 Auburn awaits at the weekend before a trip to face Texas A&M next week.

Chris Billingsley Jr. is back on the mound to start for MSU, his first start since a win over Samford on April 14.

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